An Interview!

Thanks to some very patient and helpful friends, I updated my resume to look for gainful employment. I have applied for over 50 positions at various types of companies, and have received a lot of rejection emails.

My friend the West Coast Web Investigator reviewed and suggested changes to my resume, so I incorporated the changes and updated it on Monster.com

I received two emails within a week from companies wanting to interview me. One job involved tutoring, and the other job was a Human Resources Training Coordinator position. I responded to both, getting phone calls asking for preliminary interviews. Both went well; in fact, I was hired for the tutoring position! I'll probably start doing that after the first of the year. I'll tutor kindergarten through high school, in any subject I want, and during the hours I set. Sounds perfect to me.

The other position I interviewed for yesterday morning. I think it went very well, and enjoyed very much discussing the position with the HR Training manager. I should hear about whether or not I'll be asked back for a "test teach"-- a presentation of 15 minutes on a subject in front of the manager and the trainers.

more later, k?

Home again!

It's good to be home, but what a fun trip we took! The RV was beautiful, new and big(!). It had enough room for the four of us plus the dog, and an extra guest! The kitchen was more efficient than mine at home, and there was storage room enough for all of our things, too!

The weather was pleasant--it got cold in the evenings and was beautiful and sunny during the day. At night, the billions and billions of stars shone in the dark moonless sky, giving a light show with which no laser show could ever hope to compete. Gorgeous stars and constellations--from Orion, to the serpent (that my oldest daughter taught me about), to the barely visible Big Dipper. It was barely visible only because there were so very many danged stars to see that it took some time to determine the stars that belong to the Dipper! I loved it!

Thanksgiving Dinner disappointed none; everyone shared in part of the cooking. The group requested my yams, and another vegetable, so at the suggestion of another friend, I made something similar to my mother's recipe for zucchini, crook-neck squash, tomatoes, onions and cheese, with of course, garlic. The requisite potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, bread, etc., added to the sumptuous feast, making us so stuffed, we nearly did not have any room for the dessert pies. I felt right at home, but better, since I love the company we shared, and the natural environment added great peace to my holiday.

Friday Morning, we all drove into town (Solvang), for a huge but delicious breakfast for those Danish Doughnuts of sorts...and forgive me because I do not know how to spell this, but they are called apvelskivvers (pronounced "ayvelskivvers"). We all took our traditional walk after breakfast to the hardware store, where we found trinkets, bargains, not such bargains, but lots of things to see. From that point, we broke off into several groups...twice losing Emily in the hardware as we left...finally getting her to join us for the next portion of the walk.

Some of the dads took kids to see the little waterfall nearby, some went back to camp, the older kids took off either to camp or around town, and the moms walked off for their supershopping day in Solvang--the consignment shops, the thrift shops, and of course, window wishing in the expensive shops. Unfortunately, this year I could not find Poppy's Greek Fishing Cap, so he'll have to make to with his old one for one more year.

We made it back just in time to start cooking dinner. The group had requested I make lasagne, so I assembled it at home, and baked it in the terrific little oven in our RV Friday afternoon. If I say so myself, it tasted pretty darned good! Plus, we added leftover yams, zucchini, more bread, and, we celebrated one young man's birthday; he makes thirteen years, so Sarah and I baked cakes in ice cream cones. I was disappointed, but the kids seemed to like them.

Saturday, the women all walked together around the campground, checking out the laundry room, oohing and ahhing at the fancy RV's parked where there were electrical and water connections. I found two oak trees that someday I'm going to photograph. I tried to do that on Sunday, but the timing was not quite right, and the lighting fell short of spectacular, so I didn't shoot. My photography is something that I might write about some day. But this isn't the time.

Three of the families left for home Saturday afternoon, right after lunch. That left our family of four plus the dog, and one couple, the parents who had been coming to this campground for more than twenty years. Now that's a scrapbook!

Sunday afternoon, we began our trek homeward. Traffic moved slowly for most of the ride, packing up the RV brought on fatigue for Scott and me, so we had a great time talking and joking just to keep him awake while he drove. The ocean drive gave us great views as we plogged along. While we didn't see any whales or dolphins, we saw lots of surfers in their wetsuits who looked like seals on their boards. They furtively searched for perfect waves in that mostly glassy sea. I'm sure they found a few good waves.

We so much enjoyed our trip. It relaxed us, and let us be away from some of the issues that tend to overwhelm us in our daily lives. We came back tired yet refreshed (at least I did) and hopeful that we could face for awhile longer all the facets of our lives at one time.

Next up: Yesterday--an Interview!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

This week for my family ought to have it's own book!

The last three days have been quite busy, as I imagine they have for everyone...

We planned to leave this afternoon to go to Lake Cachuma, near Solvang, California, to camp for the four days of Thanksgiving weekend with about 20 other people, including four families of four, and a few grandparents.

I had it all planned out so organized, the house was clean, the kids were actually getting along, it was going to be ok...that was last weekend, though.

My father lost a few teeth, and a few others broke, leaving sharp stubs in his mouth. I had no idea how significant this was, and made an appointment for the dentist on Monday (21st). When we got there, we had to make another appointment for next Tuesday to have the broken teeth pulled, with antibiotics, and all that. Poor Poppy...he has only a very few teeth left, and he's (again) lost his lower partial. We've discussed dentures, but since he's lost his partials a few times (I think three times now), we're afraid he'll lose these, too, at a much greater price than the dentures. Poor Poppy again, he doesn't know that we are going on a trip yet.

Oh yes, back to the trip. Packing yesterday, cooking started last night, I was up until nearly 2:am this morning...oh wait. I must go back to Monday night.

After spending the afternoon with Poppy, taking him with us to Target to shop for our trip, I decided to get him some soup at a local coffee shop...the girls and I had not eaten for quite awhile, and we were tired and starving...it was a good decision. Took him home, got the girls to bed, and continued my preparations for the trip. At 1:45 AM, Sarah came into my bedroom (Emily had jumped into bed with me earlier...I hadn't noticed this until Sarah came in. Sarah had a bad bloody nose. It was nearly hemorrhaging...and lasted nearly 45 minutes. It finally dried up, and she finally got to go to sleep.

Scott had got up and carried Emily to her bed, where she began to cry and came out to the family room to find me. She fell asleep in my lap, while I sat on the floor trying to comfort and help Sarah.

We all finally got to sleep; thankfully Scott didn't wake us until he left for work at 8:00...

Emily got up first, then I did. Then we started preparations for the trip...laundry, suitcases, cleaning house, etc. Sarah got up and helped my by entertaining Emily for awhile. I heard her crying, and yes, Emily had head butted Sarah, causing the nose to begin bleeding again. It bled off and on for most of the day. I called the doctor who said if it began to bleed again to take her to ER...but if it didn't, she still wanted to see Sarah "tomorrow" (today).

Scott decided to not go in to work today, so we could get the RV rented, and be on our way...

I cooked, packed, cooked some more, and we got the RV, then it was time for Sarah's doctor appointment. Got there before 2:pm, thinking we'd be out no later than 3:00. Boy was I wrong! At 4:35 we finally left, after the doc cauterized Sarah's nose and packed it, and having to return to the exam. room so the doc could add gauze and tape (very attractive, btw) because Sarah's nose was "oozing" as the doc put it.

She and I had not eaten since breakfast, when we both realized Sarah had not even eaten breakfast! I let her get some Oreos (bad mommy!!), and we then went to the drugstore for the prescription (she also has a sinus infection). We walked around waiting for the prescription to get filled, and found a way to spend lots of money in the process.

However they did not have the film I needed, and I remembered I was supposed to get special disposable pans that fit in the RV oven...so I dropped her at home and went on to the market. Got my film and pans and came home.

So we had to greatly disappoint both of our girls (as well as our selves) and make the parental decision to put off the trip until tomorrow morning.

While it's good to have some extra time to make sure we have everything for the trip, it's also disappointing that we won't wake up at the beautiful lake and forest tomorrow morning. It's so peaceful and gorgeous up there that I am anxious to get there and relax for a few days.

I haven't updated my blog in awhile, so this (verbatim) is going into the blog, but I thought if I wrote it to the list, I could then cut and paste it to my blog and sort of "kill two birds with one stone."

This Thanksgiving, I must mention that I am thankful, so very thankful to have all of you as great friends, and certain family members who read this blog and therefore know who you are, especially during this last year. You have sustained my faith in humans, and have been such terrific friends. Even better than most in my own physical family!

With all that written, I hope everyone has a great, happy, filling, relaxing, healthy Thanksgiving! (except for the Brits and Canadians...however I do hope all of you have a great, happy, filling, relaxing and healthy weekend! :-)

Now I'm very tired, but I have a few things to do before I can relax, but relax I will! We'll get the RV packed, and then tomorrow am we can just jump into it to start our trip!

Wish us luck!

A Letter

Forgive me, but in the hopes of saving some time, I'm posting a letter I sent today, updating some friends of our family activities, and the fact that my dad is now home from the hospital. Here it is...

Dear, dear, Friends,

It’s about time I send another update to you about our Poppy!

But first, we hope this letter finds you in good health and as happy as our hearts let us be.

Poppy is home!! He returned to the Residence not quite two weeks ago. Boy, what a change for the better he has undergone. For now at least, he’s alert, holds full conversations (even some wise guidance for me), eats in the dining room, and cracks jokes! He’s nearly my dear old Dad again! Unfortunately, he doesn’t walk much. His legs are still weak from spending nearly two months in bed, but he continues physical therapy as well as practicing in his room when he has enough strength.

Next week, he’ll be moving! An apartment opened downstairs, and since he’s a fall risk, plus he needs a little more personal service from the staff. The room allows more access to the care giving staff, enabling them to check on him more often. I do not remember the room number right now, but he will be in the very same building, nearly directly below his current apartment, so I’m sure that anything you send will get to him.

We are so thankful he’s home again and in fairly good health (for an old guy!)

It looks as if other good news will be coming his way soon, too. It appears there is a little known VA benefit for Merchant Marines/Coast Guard members from World War II. These folks were just assigned “veteran” status, and financial aid plus a few other benefits are beginning to filter through the administrative nightmare known as the Veteran’s Administration. I hope this thing does happen for him; it will mean he won’t have to dig deeper into his savings.

As for our family, we’re still quite busy. I’m happy to report that Sarah’s soccer team holds 2^nd place in their division, and tomorrow they’ll play their second playoff game. If they win this game, they will continue on to semi-finals and be guaranteed a trophy. Sarah is so excited about soccer; this is the first time she’s been on a winning team! (It’s also the first season she’s ever been involved with competition). We’re quite proud of her. We see her report card next week, and after seeing her grades on tests, we fairly confident she’ll bring home very good grades. She sure is growing up fast!

Emily loves her school; she had to miss one day because of a slight fever and she remained sad the whole day. I guess her mommy makes it pretty boring for her when she stays home. She also loves her gymnastics class, performing “V-sits” and standing on her hands or head constantly. We call her the little Monkey Mankey. She is beautiful like her sister, and joyous. She makes my days easier and gives me many laughs throughout the day.

Our Em has a great imagination, too. One day, she started us on the idea of changing our home into a house-sized play place. She put a climbing structure, a gym room, a swimming pool, gaming, in different rooms of our house. She even suggested a slide from the upstairs (which we don’t have) down to the gym room. She has it all figured how we can accomplish this!

Scott has moved on from the production he was working on. You may have heard of it: Chicken Little. It opened in wide release last Friday, November 4. Disney is very happy with this feature, as it made a huge profit on its first weekend. We hope this next weekend will be the same. Scott works now on a production called “Meet the Robinsons”—we’ve been privy to some early ads for this film, and it looks great. Scott is very happy to be on this production; he thinks it will shine with a good story and great animation. He is grateful to work with such talented people and at such a great company.

I’m doing just fine, struggling to keep up with our home as it slowly explodes with toys, games and sports equipment. My health is greatly improved, now that I’ve restricted my caffeine intake especially. I have been told that what I experienced is called Paroxysmal Supra-Ventricular Tachycardia, otherwise known as sudden rapid heart beat. Duh. I’ve seen a cardiologist and had echocardiograms and now get to look forward to follow up appointments. I’ve been given another prescription to regulate my heart beat, called Flecainide. I get to take it twice each day, to make sure my heart doesn’t try to run a marathon without me. I am doing better, and have decided it might be time to wake up and take better care of myself. Fat fight, here I come!

Well, that’s the news from Leonard and the Mankeys. We so appreciate you continuing to write your letters, and occasionally phone him. He just beams when any of you contact him. He faithfully reads letters, yet his handwriting has deteriorated so he is not able to write back to you.

This really was not intended to be a booklet, but at least you are all updated on our family. My apologies again for making this another mass mailing, but it sure expedites getting the news out to you! If I didn’t do it this way, there is no telling when I’d actually be able to write to you.

Again, please, take care of yourselves and each other.

Hugs,

Charmaine, Leonard, & family

P.S. Poppy’s address is still: 5900 Chapman Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92845, and his phone number is 714-890-9544.